The spill occurred last Friday when the SeaRose platform of the company Husky Energy was preparing to restart its production about 350 kilometres off the coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, in the Atlantic.

Husky checked with a remotely operated submarine vehicle the pipes and distribution lines of SeaRose and confirmed that the spill had stopped, but that the amount of oil poured into the sea was about 250,000 litres, the largest accident of this kind in the history of the Canadian province.

The regulatory council of the oil sector of Newfoundland and Labrador, C-NLOPB, said in a statement that so far has recovered 14 seabirds covered in oil that are being treated in San Juan de Terranova.

Today, C-NLOPB Chief Executive Scott Tessier told Canadian media that no oil slicks have been discovered floating on the surface of the Atlantic so he considers that the oil has sunk and cannot be cleaned.

Husky Energy said today in a statement that the production of SeaRose is still paralyzed and that it is investigating the causes of the spill.

The company has been criticized for trying to resume production when SeaRose was still affected by a giant storm that struck the region on November 15 and which was cataloged by Canadian meteorologists as the world’s largest with waves up to 9 meters high.

The environmental organization Sierra Club Canada denounced that the spill and the inability of Husky to clean up the oil is a reminder that Canadian regulations are not up to par.

Sierra Club Canada also recalled that SeaRose almost collided with an iceberg last year and that despite the danger, the company did not disconnect the platform that at that time stored 340,000 barrels of oil.